Vegalta Sendai

Founded in 1988 as Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. Soccer Club, Vegalta joined the J-League in 1999 after playing a few years in the JFL, with the nickname Brummell Sendai, to which they had been promoted in 1995 from the Tohoku Regional League. When joining the J-League, the name Vegalta was chosen as a homage to the famous Tanabata festival in Sendai. The names of the two celestial stars of the Tanabata legend, Vega and Altair were combined to form Vegalta.

They were first promoted to the top flight in 2002 but in the following season the team went back down the following season. They were promoted again for the 2010 season.

In 2011, despite the earthquake and tsunami, they achieved their highest position up to that time, 4th place in the top division. In 2012, despite leading the table for most of the season, Sanfrecce Hiroshima's challenge proved too strong, and losing the penultimate week game to relegation battler Albirex Niigata cost them the title, rendering them second-place winners, their highest position in history.

In 2018, the Vegalta reached vice place in the Emperor's Cup, losing the cup to the Urawa Reds.[1]

Like most football clubs, Sendai's fans are to be heard singing and dancing throughout the match; but, most of the songs used by fans of other clubs are eschewed in favor of a more eclectic set. The club's theme, sung before every game, is Take Me Home, Country Roads, while during the game altered lyrics are sung to the tunes of The Lambrusco Kid by the Toy Dolls, Blitzkrieg Bop, and other songs by KISS and Twisted Sister.

As of 11 August 2021[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  JPN Yuma Obata 2 MF  JPN Yosuke Akiyama 3 DF  JPN Naoya Fukumori 4 DF  JPN Koji Hachisuka 5 DF  JPN Hisashi Appiah Tawiah 6 MF  JPN Rikiya Uehara (on loan from Júbilo Iwata) 7 MF  JPN Kunimitsu Sekiguchi 8 MF  JPN Yoshiki Matsushita 11 FW  JPN Shuhei Akasaki 13 DF  JPN Yasuhiro Hiraoka 14 MF  JPN Takayoshi Ishihara 15 FW  JPN Takuma Nishimura 16 DF  JPN Kyohei Yoshino 17 MF  JPN Shingo Tomita 18 MF  JPN Shogo Nakahara 19 FW  JPN Yusuke Minagawa

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  CUW Quenten Martinus 21 GK  JPN Kaito Ioka 22 GK  SRB Nedeljko Stojisic 24 DF  JPN Hayate Nagakura 25 DF  JPN Takumi Mase 26 MF  JPN Chihiro Kato 27 GK  POL Jakub Słowik 28 MF  JPN Takumi Sasaki 29 FW  GHA Emmanuel Oti Essigba 31 DF  JPN Hayato Teruyama 32 MF  JPN Ryoma Kida 33 FW  BRA Felippe Cardoso (on loan from Santos) 35 MF  BRA Foguinho 42 FW  JPN Cayman Togashi 43 MF  JPN Issei Kato

Key

• Pos. = Position in league
• Pts = Total Points gained
• † 2020 season attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
• Attendance = Total home league attendance

• Source: J.League Data Site

• Tohoku Football League Division 1: 1994 (as Brummell Sendai)
• Regional League Promotion Series: 1994 (as Brummell Sendai)
• J.League Division 2: 2009[3]

Despite leading J2 in attendance for the past three years, the club has struggled financially since being relegated from J1. In 2005, the team ran a deficit of 163 million yen, the only year since joining the J.League that they failed to turn a profit.[4] Up until the closing date of the 2006 season (January 31, 2007), the team was projecting a 150 million yen deficit.[5] However, the transfer fee for Borges was enough to drive them into the black for the season. The total profit in 2006 was 27 million yen.[6]

As of 14 October 2018.[7]

Current Rank	Country	Team	Points
66		Al-Ahed SC	1379
67		Al-Nasr Dubai SC	1377
68		Vegalta Sendai	1375
69		Salgaocar F.C.	1372
70		Sagan Tosu	1372

• (in Japanese) Vegalta Sendai Official Website

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vegalta Sendai.